| Irrigation
An agricultural drought is never far away I recall writing something like this in January 2018 when the year began with worries about an agricultural drought in the spring which turned out to be the worst summer drought in the past 40 years. It is not over yet as we have similar conditions brewing again this year with rainfall already well below average over the past few months. ccording to the Environment Agency’s December water situation report, East Anglia received 542mm of rainfall for 2018: only 91% of the long‐term average. Since May last year there have been rainfall deficits in most months. August, October, and November were rather wet but the cumulative rainfall over the past 8 months (May to December) is the lowest since 1910. For irrigators, the result is plain to see. River flows and groundwater levels are below normal in most places and recharge started 2 months late. “Hands‐off” flow conditions are already activated in some places and many farmers are concerned about being able to fill their reservoirs before the end of March deadline. Some are near full, but others report only 25% full. The only good news is that soil moisture deficits are low and so autumn winter drilled crops have established well. The Met Office forecast is for below average rainfall for January‐February‐March. Unless rainfall substantially increases above normal, the Agency are predicting below normal flows in all main rivers through spring and early summer months. A similar picture is forecast for groundwater levels. Elsewhere across the England, the situation is less critical. The west of England is gradually recovering from last year’s dry summer.
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Two important events Looking on the bright side, two important events for irrigators this year are the IRRIGEX irrigation equipment exhibition at Peterborough on 27-28 February (www.irrigex.com ), and the publication of a new Irrigators’ Handbook by the UK Irrigation Association (UKIA). UKIA is holding its spring conference at the IRRIGEX event – Future water for food. And this year it is FREE to attend. It is a great opportunity for irrigators to listen to and engage with some of the country’s leading experts on irrigation farming and water resources, like Paul Hammett NFU, Paul Hickey EA, and Sir Peter Kendall AHDB, and many others, and to ask key questions about coping with drought, how we plan to secure water for agriculture when water demand is growing across all sectors, how abstractors will be affected by changes in the water regulations, and of course there is the little matter of Brexit and its impact on irrigated farming! There will also be an Environment Agency Surgery at this event for irrigators to discuss their water resources and abstraction licensing issues with Agency staff. AHDB will also have a stand and so too will the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) who will be focusing on how farmers can assess and managing drought risks on the farm. Second event is the launch of the UKIA Irrigators’ Handbook at IRRIGEX. There has been a dearth
44 | Farming Monthly | February 2019
of independent evidence-based information on irrigation since the old MAFF publications in the 1970s. The science of soils and water has not changed but the applications have, and it is timely to see this information finally updated. Copies of the handbook will be available at IRRIGEX and via the UKIA website (www.ukia.org ). Trickle irrigators beware deadline Trickle irrigation, which is currently not licensed, is increasing in some sectors. Growers need to be aware the rules of the game are changing and they now need to ensure they comply with the Agency’s new authorisations programme. All trickle users need to apply for a licence before the deadline of 31 December 2019. An idiosyncrasy of the new trickle licences is that growers who already have a spray licence will need to apply for a variation if they wish to switch some of their irrigation to trickle. It is just the way the legislation is set up and of course ‘rules are rules to be followed’! If you use trickle irrigation and if you already spray irrigate and are thinking to change then now is the time to sort out the licensing with the Agency. Start now as the deadline is slowly creeping up. A collaborative approach to managing water Defra’s plans for greater focus on catchment-scale water management through collaborative working continues a pace with four initial priority catchments now
selected with two in the Midlands and two in East Anglia. To date the focus has been on water quality and the Water Framework Directive (WFD). But there is now the additional and important factor of abstraction to consider and how this will be managed locally. Water Abstractor Groups, of which there are now 10 in England, have an important role to play in delivering these local solutions, possibly through more water trading and storage. It is time to engage with this process of change while the rules of the game are still fluid. Agency’s new licensing programme The Agency also continues to roll out its new licensing programme which includes a move from a paper-based system to a web-based digital system. This could benefit growers if it allows them to track river‐flows in ‘real me’ in relative to their licensed ‘hands off flow’ (HOF) constraints. A move from licencing to environmental permitting regulations is also on the cards and may have significant impact on irrigators. More on this as 2019 unfolds. So come along and talk to us at IRRIGEX (it is FREE to attend) and pick up your copy of the Irrigators’ Handbook. Melvyn Kay Exec Secretary, UK Irrigation Association www.ukia.org
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